1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to knife scabbards and, more particularly, is concerned with a knife scabbard employing a preloaded, releasably locked, insert panel to assist in retaining a knife within a cavity of the scabbard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Receptacles adapted to receive and hold knives used by butchers and others engaged in slaughtering tasks are known as knife scabbards. Representative examples of prior art scabbards are those discloses in Puke et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 1,431,487), Baust (U.S. Pat. No. 1,504,927), Nies (U.S. Pat. No. 1,812,302), Roberge (U.S. Pat. No. 2,236,382), Tyson (2,399,522), Brickey (U.S. Pat. No. 2,424,302), Rutledge, Jr. (U.S. Pat. No. 2,903,171) and Bowers (Des. U.S. Pat. No. 250,824).
At the present time, knife scabbards being used have constructions basically similar to those of the Brickey and Rutledge, Jr. patents. As exemplified by the Rutledge, Jr. patent, the basic design of this prior art scabbard includes a receptacle having a sheath in the form of a back plate with a pair of opposite forwardly-extending, downwardly-converging side walls with inturned retaining flanges on their forward edges, and a knife clamping and wedging flat front plate which can be inserted into the sheath between the side walls and removed therefrom.
The front plate can slide longitudinally of the back plate between the side walls so as to define a tapered knife-clamping cavity therebetween. A resilient downturned lip is provided on the upper edge of the front plate which hooks over the tops of the inturned retaining flanges on the side walls. The lower end of the cavity is open permitting drainage of moisture from the knives.
Scabbards of this design presently in use have several drawbacks. First, they hold the knives in place by wedging them between the back and front plates of the scabbard. This imposes a force on knife handle in a direction which urges the knife to withdraw from the scabbard, thus making it easy for the knife to be dislodged and fall out when the scabbard is laid down or dropped.
Second, these prior art scabbards commonly have a loop fixed to the front surface of the front plate for receiving and hanging a meat hook used by the same slaughtering house workers. The hook point is exposed and creates a serious safety hazard. Some scabbards have plastic covers available as an add-on option. However, they are not widely used as they can be easily punctured by the hook point and do not give adequate protection.
Consequently, a need exists for improvements which will overcome the drawbacks of these prior art knife scabbards.